Harem Online: My Party Is Full of Beautiful Celebrities-Chapter 35: One Of Us

[Emperoar: Aim for critical hits on crystallized skin. Or wait for me to Perfect Block you!]

Martin shared the results of his and NukEncore’s experiments with the crystallization debuff.

Smashing the raw crystals in the mining site did nothing. NukEncore still kept at it, stubbornly trying to crack open the crystallized layer around her hands.

Martin finally intervened.

He taunted her and let her anger crash against his shield.

His Perfect Block cracked open her crystallized hands and completely shattered the debuff.

[Emperoar: You can pick up the shattered crystals and crush them in your hands to refill your mana!]

[Chaosgraphy: So that’s how NukEncore is spamming bolt after bolt.]

[Emperoar: Yeah.]

Then Martin moved.

Already leaning forward to rush, he blasted off with a loud bang and charged toward the cluster of goblins.

I can’t throw my shield to stun them. I need a cluster and melee range.

The Dark Blue Goblins reacted to his charge at once. They scattered in every direction they could.

Martin had chosen this spot because it was closest to the wall. Their escape routes were limited, and he could cover the gaps with Taunts.

"TAUNT!" he shouted.

One Dark Blue Goblin froze and raised its hands, slinging crystal bullets at him. The rest immediately rushed to support it and focused their volleys on him too.

Blocking all of that was impossible.

Martin did not care.

The charge itself was already a skill.

Martin tore through the air and hammered into the nearest goblin hard enough to fold its small body over the face of his shield.

He never slowed. With the wall at their backs, he drove through the cramped lane and bulldozed two more into the same line, stacking them in front of him like a living battering ram.

A heartbeat later, he twisted his shoulder and slammed the whole pile into the next knot of goblins near the rock wall.

Bodies crashed together. Crystals snapped. The tight corner that had looked like cover a moment ago turned into a trap.

Half of them stiffened on impact, stunned by the force.

[Bulwark Rush (Rare)]

[Type: Active, Mobility (Shield)]

[Requirement: Shield equipped]

[Cost: 20 Mana]

[Cooldown: 14s]

[Effect: Charge up to 8m. While rushing, you take 35% less damage and gain +100% Strength. Enemies you slam into obstacles are Stunned for 2s.]

"Ricochet Shield!"

He ripped the shield free and whipped it through the clump.

Steel cracked into one goblin’s temple, skipped off a shoulder, then punched into the next and the next, bouncing in a brutal loop through the trapped pack. Any goblin trying to shake off the first stun got clipped again and locked in place.

His job was done. The opening was hers now.

"Get them, Chaos."

A soft step sounded at Martin’s side.

Chaosgraphy flashed past him.

There was no wasted motion. She slipped into the gap he had made and cut the first goblin across the throat before its knees fully unlocked.

Her second slash opened another from shoulder to ribs. By the time the third managed to raise its crystal sling, her blade was already through it.

Blood-red particles burst one after another.

She did not pause to admire any of it. Her eyes were already on the next body, the next weak angle, the next goblin about to wake.

Martin kept feeding the lane to her, drawing stragglers onto his shield and turning them just enough to expose their sides.

Kill Clause’s arrows cut in from behind, opening bleeding lines across blue skin.

Bleeding had been applied. Not a second could be wasted.

Chaosgraphy lunged again.

She stepped in, cut one down, and moved to the next before the first had fully burst into particles.

Then another.

She moved with ruthless precision, like the fight had finally remembered what shape it was supposed to take.

This party...

Above her, NukEncore’s Fire Bolts rained down with the same burning intensity as Chaosgraphy’s strikes.

...is the best.

[You have killed A Dark Blue Goblin Lv. 3]

[You have killed A Dark Blue Goblin Lv. 3]

[You have killed A Dark Blue Goblin Lv. 3]

[You have...]

[You have....]

[You...]

[Time: 00:10]

[Time: 00:05]

[Time: 00:00]

[The Hidden Level One Dungeon Run is over.]

Everything froze.

Then the four players at the center of the massacre vanished from the hidden buried mine, leaving only silence behind. A second later, the blood and crystals disappeared as well.

[The Dungeon has been reset.]

The next instant, Martin was back outside with the others.

"Martin! Did you enjoy my Fire Bolts?" NukEncore asked as she rose onto her tiptoes and lifted her face toward his. "I’m totally sure I hit at least seventy percent of them!"

Martin chuckled. "Did you count?"

"You gotta trust me on that!"

"Sure, I trust you. Well done. I liked your Scarlet Rain."

"Scarlet Rain... mhm! That’s the name of this skill!" NukEncore crossed her arms and nodded in satisfaction. "It wouldn’t have been possible without you. Did you have a hunch your Perfect Block would break the crystal?"

"Nah. You were wasting time, so I had to intervene somehow. All’s well that ends well, yeah?" Martin said with a chuckle, enjoying the puffed cheeks of his mage, who clearly did not know how to take that.

Should she lift her chin in pride, or fire back at Martin for saying she had been wasting time?

I needed to vent my anger somehow! Don’t call it wasting time... but... from the other side... maybe I did waste some time... no! Nope. I’m not admitting that!

Kill Clause cut in. "That many goblins probably came at us because of your pet, Martin. I don’t think we would’ve faced this many in a normal dungeon run."

Never one to waste time, Kill Clause got straight to the point and shifted the conversation to what had happened inside the dungeon. She had already sorted the information in her head. Now she shared it with the others and started asking questions.

She had that same boss-at-work air about her again.

But behind that efficient, boss-like attitude, Kill Clause sounded more passionate too. She was clearly already looking ahead to the next attempt at the buried mine.

Then she added, "Still, I don’t know what I’d do if arrows weren’t an infinite resource."

She’s pretty cute. Could her cold, efficient attitude be the result of her workplace? Must be. Yeah, I’m different in this game world too. I should help her open up more here so she can enjoy it.

Martin grinned. "Knowing you, you’d find a way. Or maybe you’d use NukEncore’s Fire Bolt as an arrow."

At the mention of that possible combo, NukEncore and Kill Clause both lit up with interest. The two exchanged a look and nodded.

I’ve never shot anything that abstract.

I could learn a lot about accuracy from her.

Chaosgraphy called out to Kill Clause.

"Clause. Do you think your boss would take me into Night Espresso?"

"Yes. You’re a talented player, and you have good synergy with Martin."

"I wouldn’t mind joining your lot if it keeps me in Martin’s party."

"That also shouldn’t be an issue."

Chaosgraphy smiled knowingly, and Kill Clause’s usual coldness settled back into place.

By now, both of them were aware of each other’s identities. They spoke in hints, careful not to confuse Martin or tip him off.

NukEncore tugged at Martin’s sleeve. "You want me too, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Martin said with a nod.

"Mhm! I really like playing with you, Martin. You don’t get mad at my flaws."

"Haha. Your flaws just make things harder, and I like hard things. Besides, you’ve got a ton of potential, and your Skill Combination Mastery is going to make every run fun. So don’t get stuck on your flaws too much. I like playing with you, that’s enough."

NukEncore beamed. "M’kay! I’ll join Night Espresso too, then! I can’t see anyone refusing me!"

Chaosgraphy coughed.

Kill Clause narrowed her eyes and looked between the two of them.

This felt absurd. How had an ordinary man ended up in a party with some of the most famous women in the country? In the real world, we belonged to completely different spheres.

Yet here, our rhythm felt strangely natural. There was real harmony between us, and something uniquely magnetic about the way we fit together.

For the first time, I found myself genuinely intrigued by Martin.

Then Chaosgraphy made her move.

She smiled like a villainess. "I do have one requirement. I want you in our party too, Clause. You’re too good an archer, so I don’t want anyone else to get you. Hey. You’re sticking with our party, okay?"

Kill Clause stared at her for a moment, expressionless, then smiled faintly.

"If you insist."

Martin had not expected Chaosgraphy to be the one to suggest staying together beyond today’s runs. The idea pleasantly surprised him, and somewhere deep down, it excited him too.

It was not just because he was a single man in a party with only women in it. Each of them was unique, skilled, and fun to play with, so he genuinely looked forward to teaming up with them again.

A quiet part of him even felt that maybe something good could come from this. At the very least, he was not alone anymore.

"Now that we’ve got more intel, do we keep exploring or go for the categories?"

The three women looked at each other.

They had been exploring this whole time, and it had been fun, so the answer to his question was obvious.

In a rare moment of silent agreement, the three of them gave the same answer at once.